Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum 3)

“Pimp,” Morelli said. “Very oily. Deals some dope.” He looked at me over the edge of his pizza. “Why?”

“You remember Jackie? Lula's friend?”

“Jackie the hooker.”

“Yeah. Well she came to Vinnie's office today to see if I could find her car. Seems her boyfriend, Cameron Brown, took off with it.”

“And?”

“And, Lula and I cruised around awhile and finally found the car parked in the RiverEdge Apartments parking lot.”

Morelli stopped eating. “Keep going.”

“That's about it. Jackie said she didn't care about finding Cameron. She just wanted her car.”

“So what's your problem?”

I chewed some pizza. “I don't know. The whole thing feels . . . nasty. Unfinished.”

“Stay out of it.”

“Excuse me?”

“It's Jackie's problem,” Morelli said. “Mind your own business. You got her car back. Let it rest.”

“She's sort of my friend.”

“She's a doper. She's nobody's friend.”

I knew he was right, but I was still surprised at the harsh comment and at the emphatic tone. A little alarm sounded in my brain. Usually when Morelli felt this strongly about my not getting involved in something it was because he didn't want me muddying waters he'd staked out for himself.

Morelli sank back into the couch with his bottle of beer. “What ever happened to the all-out search for Mo?”

“I'm all out of ideas.” I had wolfed down two pieces of pizza and was eyeing a third. “So tell me,” I said to Morelli. “What's going on with Jackie and her old man? Why don't you want me getting involved?”

“Like I said, it's none of your business.” Morelli leaned forward, raised the lid on Rex's hamster cage and chucked a chunk of pizza crust into Rex's little ceramic food dish.

“Tell me anyway,” I said.

“There's not much to tell. I just think there's a funny climate on the streets. The dealers are pulling back, getting cautious. Rumor has it some have disappeared.”

His attention was diverted to the television. “Watch this,” he said. “Watch the replay of this layup.”

“The guys in vice must be ecstatic.”

“Yeah,” Morelli said. “They're sitting around playing cards and eating jelly doughnuts for lack of crime.”

I was still debating the third piece of pizza. My thighs really didn't need it, but life was so short, and physical gratification was hard to come by these days. The hell with it. Eat the damn thing and get it over with, I thought.

I saw a smile twitch at the corners of Morelli's mouth.

“What?” I yelled at him.

He held two hands in the air. “Hey, don't yell at me just because you have no willpower.”

“I have plenty of willpower.” Man, I hated when Morelli was right. “Why are you here anyway?”

“Just being sociable.”